Blood Moon
Page 26
"Good," he says, throwing a twenty dollar bill on the table. "Good, because you shouldn't go around spreading lies."
As he passes the bar, Briney says, "Bring the wife around some time, Bill. I'm sure she'd like to meet us."
Another sure laugh with the gray and worn men along the bar.
4
The alien world again. But worse now. Cars stalled in snowdrifts all over the place. Even trucks spinning out of control on the icy snow-packed streets. He feels forlorn, isolated. He should've expected that someday Glen would tell somebody. Shouldn't be any big surprise. And certainly there was no threat in the way Susan spoke to him. God, she was understanding, if anything. Glen always wanted to please the folks. He knew they were counting on older brother Bill to be the one who made it. He had all the poise and polish and brains. Glen, to be brutally honest, just isn't all that smart. They lived long enough to see Bill become a successful lawyer-and long enough to see Glen go to prison. That's probably what killed them (they both died within a year of each other; heart attack for mom, cancer for dad). Now, Glen is out.
Then he's home. Spectacular Christmas lights on his street. His very prosperous street. A huge sleigh parked on one roof top, a beautiful Nativity scene taking up an entire, sprawling lawn. The neighborhood of a very successful man; the most prestigious area in all of Cedar Rapids.
Then he's turning into the long, winding drive that will take him to his Tudor-style house. Modest Christmas decorations here but the house looks gorgeous mantled with snow.
Needs to put Glen and Susan out of his mind. Enjoy himself. Everything is fine, under control. Next time he gets the urge to steal something-well, he'll just have to get the impulse under control, that's all.
He puts the car in the garage, next to Sharon's own BMW, and then walks up to the back door, snowflakes cold on his cheeks. He even opens his mouth, lets the snowflakes melt on his tongue the way he used to when he was a boy. But the air was cleaner back then. God only knows what kind of disease this snowflake is carrying.
He walks up into the kitchen. Sharon is lovely in a very nice, dark dress and a white apron. She is a very, very pretty lady.
"You look tired, honey," she says.
"Long day, I guess."
Then his two daughters burst into the kitchen. Three and four, they are, and even better looking than Sharon. "Daddy, Mommy said that Uncle Glen is a criminal. Is that true?"
"Yeah, is he a criminal like on TV, daddy?"
He gives Sharon an angry look.
She is standing there with a small cooking pan filled with sautéed onions. "I knew you wouldn't like me saying it, dear. But I wanted them to know the truth. I don't have anything against him-I'm a very open-minded person and I think you know that-but I just thought it would be a good thing if the girls knew the truth, was all."
The truth, he thinks all the time he's washing up for dinner.
The truth, he thinks all the time he's watching TV that night.
The truth, he thinks all the time he's lying there in the darkness tonight, unable to sleep. The truth.